[IMPORTANT] Plugin management

[repeatedly]

Hi folks,

We are now developing fluentd v0.14 and also writing new document for v0.14.

v0.14 has brand-new plugin APIs for more efficiency and reliability.

The one biggest problem is v0.14 API based plugins don't work with fluentd v0.12.

http://www.slideshare.net/tagomoris/fluentd-v014-plugin-api-details/11

v0.14 has a compatibility layer, so v0.12 API based plugins work with fluentd v0.14

with the exception that plugins access non-public data / functions.

After write the documentation, plugin developers can start to migrate plugins to new plugin APIs.

To avoid migration problem, check following articles.

http://docs.fluentd.org/articles/plugin-management#plugin-version-management

http://docs.fluentd.org/articles/plugin-development#fluentd-version-and-plugin-api

The former is for fluentd deployment. Short summary is specify plugin version and

don't execute plugin installation without version requirement.

The latter is for plugin developer. Short summary is update major version if

you break the compatibility, e.g. adapt v0.14 based API.

By this policy, users can use rubygems's "~> 1.2" syntax.

If you have any question, please let me know :)

Thanks,

Masahiro